Portfolio

Responsive Hitchery Website

The Project:

Hitchery is a startup project I work for in my spare time. After an official launch at SWSX in 2012, it quickly became apparent that our web presence was simply a disappointment in comparison to the sophistication of the mobile platform that we created. As Hitchery began to gain some momentum there was fear that the site might turn away potential investors.

The Challenge:

Seeing as Hitchey is a mobile application by nature, it only made sense to have our website be mobile friendly as well. Driving traffic to the iTunes appstore and Google Play was a no-brainer. The site had to support current user needs and introduce the complexities of Hitchery in a clear and fun way to all users and potential investors alike.

The Approach:

Using Twitter Bootstrap as the baseline for the CSS and flexible grid, I created a responsive website supporting a native experience for any device screen size. Keeping page load in mind during development, some choices were made in order to optimize for network speeds on mobile devices.

I started with a mobile first design approach in order to get the layout and design right for the most constrained display size. I then carried this philosophy through to development by employing the strategies of progressive enhancement (adding functionality at larger viewports where connection speeds can be assumed to be faster).